Never Look Back
by jackxnina15
Summary: Pre-season 5, Jack is undercover and meets with someone to update him on life in LA. Just something I thought of.


**Author's Note: I have no idea why I wrote this...it's not really something I would normally do. Just read it then tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, Fox or somebody does.**

Every six months it was the same routine; every six months he was connected for a few hours to the alternate reality of his other life. Preparing for their third biannual meeting just as he had for the first two, he called the motel two days ahead. Any sooner left too much of a trail, and there was no need to worry about all the rooms being full anyway. The run-down Saddle-&-Surrey was sure to have a vacancy - its state of disrepair and location along the most deserted Nevada road didn't exactly attract guests.

Just like the previous encounters, he didn't make contact with them in the weeks before. He knew she would be there, just as they agreed on before his "death." She had been the logical choice to meet with him occasionally; to update Frank Flynn on the lives of Jack Bauer's acquaintances. With her job, she could disappear for a day without much of an excuse. The two of them renting a motel room together didn't seem odd to the clerk, who would have wondered if it was Tony joining Jack twice a year. The slightly creepy man was the only one working every time Jack was there, quite possibly the only one employed. He seemed to think Jack and the woman were having some forbidden affair, which suited their purposes just fine. Let him believe he was in on the secret, if it kept him from raising questions.

Jack arrived first that day, as always. His drive from Mojave was shorter than her two hours from Los Angeles. He checked in to the room with only his messenger bag over his shoulder, though he did plan to spend the night to avoid suspicion. Never at ease, he paced around the bed before warily settling into an uncomfortable chair jammed in the corner. At precisely 5:00, a card key clicked in the lock and the door swung open. "Jack."

He sprung up instinctively, affirming that it was her. "It's good to see you," he said. "How have you been?"

"Fine. And you?"

His laugh was rueful. "You know...surviving. I found a good place to live, renting a room."

"I know, Jack. We keep track of those things."

"How's Kim?" he asked, tension obvious in his face.

"She's doing better, honestly. I think she's been seeing someone - a doctor named Barry Westing."

Relief washed over Jack's features. "And she still doesn't suspect anything about me?"

"No, no one does. We send President Palmer an unsigned 'everything's fine' email once a year, but that's the only trace of the secret still remaining."

As the pair talked for another half hour, Jack paced the room, tapped his toes, anything to keep moving. Finally, the conversation hit a lull and he could feel the tension in the room reach an unbearable level. Looking out the window, he heard her get up from the bed where she had perched, but didn't move. "Jack..." He felt her warm, soft hand on his shoulder. Anticipation rising, he turned to face her and was caught off guard by her lips on his. Before he could process this, she pressed her body into his and slid her fingers across his jaw. "Just stop thinking for a while," she coaxed, and his hands tentatively rested on her sides. He couldn't deny that he'd thought about this countless times over the years, and the desperation and loneliness in him refused to be reasoned with. So without thinking about consequences, he lifted her and moved them to the bed.

It was nearly 7:30 when he embraced her at the door, silently. They didn't need words to express their agreement - no one would ever know what they'd just done. They would never be a "couple", for countless reasons. She knew as she walked to her car that it was better this way.

Her phone rang as she pulled back onto the highway.

"Hey, where are you?" Tony sounded concerned. She could picture him sitting at the kitchen table, rubbing his face with one hand, jaw cocked to the side as he decided whether or not to call.

"I'm about halfway home, but I'm caught in traffic," Michelle lied. "I'll be there in a couple hours."

**That is NOT something I think should EVER happen in the show, I love Tony and Michelle! I'm not really sure where this came from, I just wrote it spur of the moment. I'm completely prepared to be tarred and feathered for this, but review either way.**


End file.
